When I left Germany [1950] I left everything German behind. The way they taught it, Germany was the only country that could save the world. Reality for me was a lie. By 1945, when it collapsed...we realized we'd been lied to for the first twelve years of our lives. I didn't want to have much to do with Germany. As a Hitler youth I had to take an oath to die for the swastika. And here [in the American] Air Force I had to swear to two flags. It makes you think about a lot of things.
